The Tailor
by Synthesis
Summary: A look at another type of program in the Matrix...


The Tailor 

All in all, I can't say that life has been too bad for me. 

Except for that one, rather unpleasant experience, I mean. 

What is 'life', exactly, anyway? In thinking about it, I realize that it's kind of a subjective term. Technically, I'm not _alive_, in the sense that I don't carry out metabolic processes, because I don't have a body. I'm just a specialized program in a computer system. 

The people who see me think I'm alive. Of course, they also think they're really eating food and drinking water. They look at me, and what do they see? I'm not completely sure. If I had to guess, I'd say they see an aging man, from either India or Pakistan, with graying hair, and a bit stout. Come to think of it, I don't like the fact that I'm short. It's not that flattering, to be honest. 

Next time they reset the system, I'll be sure to ask them to make me taller. 

The reality is that I'm the Tailor. In the Matrix, I'm one of the programs responsible for the creation of _other _programs.

However, I like to think I'm pretty special in a sense. You see, I don't just _any _programs.

***

For the past sixty-odd years, I've been living in this tiny shop at the corner of 112th and Broadway, in East Harlem. The sign on the outside says **FINE QUALITY SUITS**. And I can say with a certain pride that it's not lying. 

I'm a Tailor. But not just any Tailor. _The _Tailor. 

I'm sorry if I come off as a bit redundant.

In this dream world the humans share, I make fine quality suits, by hand, for my clients. They typically sell well into the thousands of dollars, and I use the best silks and clothes available. It's hard to reach a balance between excellence and showiness, but I think I can make it.

But that's just in the dream. And while I like the dream, it's not that important.

In the Matrix, I still create suits. But at the same time, I create programs to wear them. I create programs that go about to keep things orderly in the Matrix. Or at least, that's what they're supposed to do. 

In the Matrix, there exists millions and millions of programs that control everything outside human perception. Some of them are 'engines': they control gravity, matter, and physical qualities. Other's are 'entities', like birds, dogs, cats, insects, and so forth. 

And some of us are 'Administrators'. We are called that because our tasks are much more important. The Oracle and the Architect are both System Administrators. 

So am I, if to a lower extent. In the hierarchy of the Machines, I am at the same level as, say, the Keymaker. 

I am responsible for the creation and maintenance of the standard guardians of the Matrix, more commonly called the Agents.

In my shop are dozens of handcrafted suits hanging on racks, wrapped in plastic. I've spent most of the past seventy years crouched over in front of an old sewing machine, pumping it with my right foot. These special suits are all exactly the same, and consist of three articles: a black blazer with yellow silk lining on the inside, a pair of black trousers, and a white silk shirt with a collar. The Resistance of Zion fears these suits more than anything else. 

In all fairness, they fear the ones who wear these suits, but I'm also responsible for creating them. 

***

When the Matrix is young, I'm asked to create the first Guardians, the Leaders. The Architect leaves the rest up to me, putting faith in my good judgment. In this version of the Matrix, there are a dozen Leaders, all of which I created during the first few human years of the Matrix's processes. 

Not many Rebels realize this, but Agents are localized: they have to be, as the Matrix renders not only the whole planet, but the planet's moon as well. Of course, there are no Agents on the moon, just as there are no Agents in Antarctica, but there could be. 

Given this task, I created two Agents for each region, using the same basic model: a male human standing at about two meters in height. 

This brings about another question people ask me, if they could: why are there no female Agents? 

Probably because I'm somewhat lazy. A female Agent would require a new body model, and I've been using the same one for multiple versions of the Matrix, jus with a different appearance and different clothing. In the future, I plan to incorporate a female Agent; in fact, I'm planning to make all of the Agents women in the next version of the Matrix, as to standardized. 

Continuing, I created twelve Agents. Two were assigned to each continent, except the Antartica obviously, more or less, as Leaders. I shaped, I created their bodies, I created their personalities, and I created their names.

Agent Zhang was assigned to mainland Asia, primarily China and Mongolia.

Agent Akito was assigned to Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and other East Asian isles. 

Agent Al-Sadaat was assigned to North Africa. 

Agent Attwell was assigned to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Agent O'Brien was assigned to Western Europe.

Agent Chukov was assigned to Eastern Europe.

Agent Lopez was assigned to Central America

Agent Dominguez was assigned to South America

Agent Smith was assigned to the northeastern coast of the United States and Canada.

And Agent Thompson was assigned to the western seaboard of the United States. 

They all appeared in the early to mid 1940s, almost immediately after this version of the Matrix came into being. Every time the Matrix was reset, there would be a heated debate as to which year it would be appropriate to start from, particularly as the Matrix began to more and more resemble the reality of that time. Initially, the Architect and others had been far more cautious: they had designed versions that would only last thirty years. It was feared that any longer, and people would invariably catch on to the truth. When it became apparent that the humans were indeed blind to reality, and as the Matrix was perfected, each version's service length was slightly extended. Half a century. Than Sixty years. Than Seventy. The longer the version was intended to last, the greatest the risks were, but the more convenient. Each time, they would start slightly earlier, and they reached the defining point when they replicated the world as of 1940.

Returning to the Agents. Each of them was given two subordinates. They differed from the original models in that they were programmed with the intent of being obedient to their leaders. Physically, these teams of three all very closely resembled one another, within the teams.

Zhang was given Chang and Wang. 

Akito was given Ahito and Sahito.

Al-Sadaat was given Al-Hussein and Al-Haddad.

Attwell was given Cambell and Darnell.

O'Brien was given O'Conner and O'Connell 

Chukov was given Zhukov and Bykov. 

Lopez was given Banez and Juarez. 

Domingeuz was given Rodriguez and Ramirez. 

Smith was given Brown and Jones.

Thompson was given Jackson and Johnson. 

You will notice that, when each trio of names is said together, they sound very peculiar, but when said separately, they consist of some of the world's most common names, and certainly some of the most common names for each region. I made such effort to make each Agent unremarkable, it invariably resulted in the fact that when two or more are addressed at the same time, it leads to an awkward situation. Anyone idiot would notice something unusual about three near-identical men dressed in the same clothing, with suspiciously similar sounding names, and all sporting the same title of 'Agent'. One exception was Agent Smith and his team. Part of their patrol area was New York City, or more importantly, Manhattan, my own home, and perhaps the critical point for the System Administrators on the planet. It is certainly not the most heavily-populated city: Tokyo and Mexico City claim that title. But it is a very strategic place, due to issues beyond my control.

And that, I suppose, was why I put so much work into Smith, Brown, and Jones. And needless to say, I was rather dismayed when Agent Smith was changed at the hands of the Anomaly, "the One". 


End file.
